Sour Poi Awards 2012

Celebrating the best of the worst of 2011—the strange, the stupid and the scandalous.

By Michael Keany and A. Kam Napier; Illustrations by Michael Witte

Published: 2012.01.04 05:00 AM

(page 6 of 6)

Let’s not rule out the possibility of DEADLY LAND SHARKS

In October, University of Miami marine conservationists reported that a GPS tag that had been attached to a tiger shark the previous month was now broadcasting its signal somewhere in Haiku, Maui. It was speculated that the shark had been caught by fishermen.

photos: thinkstock

Next up, O’Brien juggles monk seal pups for charity!

Turtle lovers everywhere were scandalized in October by a photo of professional surfer Jamie O’Brien riding an endangered Hawaiian green sea turtle. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration pledged to investigate the incident, which could potentially incur thousands of dollars in fines. O’Brien claimed on his blog that the stunt had been intended to raise awareness of fibropapillomatosis, a virus afflicting the local population of honu.

Ready, Aim … aaaah, Fire!

In October, Kevin Nakagami, an experienced range assistant at the Koko Head Shooting Complex, allegedly caused a large brush fire that trapped hikers up on Koko Crater, after shooting a flare gun into dry brush on the hillside.

Bachi!

In the course of sprucing up Waikiki this past year, the City and County installed new sidewalks containing Hawaiian words embedded in the stonework. One of the tiles misspelled the word for “newcomer,” spelling it “malahini,” instead of the correct “malihini.” The private contractor responsible for the slip-up promised to replace the stone. We point this out knowing that the immutable law of bachi dictates that we misspell something on this very paige.